Hikes to kick off new year

Walks will offer information along the way

by tracy harmon
the pueblo chieftain

Published: December 30, 2013;Last modified: December 30, 2013 05:00AM

New Year’s Day “First Day Hikes” are slated to be held throughout Southern Colorado on Wednesday, offering residents a way to start 2014 off on the right foot by being active and enjoying the outdoors.

Hikes are slated for 11 a.m. Wednesday at Lake Pueblo State Park, 9:30 a.m. near Johnson’s Village between Buena Vista and Salida in Chaffee County, and at 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. at Trinidad Lake State Park.

In Pueblo, participants should meet at the Cottonwood Picnic Area. Representatives of the Nature and Raptor Center of Pueblo will lead an interactive and fun 3-mile hike that will feature information on wildlife, birds of prey, geocaching and more.

Participants can hike the full 3-mile route to the Nature and Raptor Center or complete a shorter family hiking loop that includes a scavenger hunt.

In Johnson’s Village, Bob Hickey, a volunteer naturalist at the Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area, will lead a 3-mile hike in the northern Fourmile Area near the old Midland Railroad Grade. Hikers will have fantastic views of the snowy upper Arkansas River Valley and the Sawatch Mountain Range, as well as the rugged shallow-canyon scenery and unique granitic boulder formations of the Arkansas Hills.

Participants should meet at 9:30 a.m. at the Midland Railroad Grade parking area on Forest Service Road 376A, which is 1.5 miles north of the Collegiate Peaks Overlook off Colorado 285 east of Johnson Village. Call 719-539-7289 to register by Monday.

Three hikes will be offered at Trinidad Lake State park. The 10 a.m. hike will start at the visitors center and include a strenuous 3-mile foray along the Reilly Canyon Trail.

Two hikes are slated for 11 a.m. and also will start from the visitors center. There will be a 1-mile hike on the Levsa Canyon Trail or an easy wheelchair and stroller accessible three-quarter-mile hike on the paved Park View Trail.

All hikes are free but park visitors must have either a daily parks pass or a valid annual pass.